The results came in below Wall Street expectations for earnings of $1.15 a share on revenue of $115.78 billion.

Wal-Mart reported a 1.4% drop in revenue at its namesake business for stores open at least year -- that marks the first drop in about a year and a half. Analysts expected revenue at Wal-Mart stores to remain unchanged.

The company cited a payroll tax increase, delayed tax refunds and bad weather for the worse-than-expected results.

Looking ahead, the retailer expects earnings per share to be in the range of $1.22 to $1.27 in the current quarter, below analysts' expectations of earnings of $1.29 a share.

Wal-Mart represents nearly 10% of nonautomotive retail spending in the U.S., and thus is considered an economic bellwether.

Cisco Systems reported a higher-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fiscal third quarter on Wednesday.

The computer-networking equipment maker reported adjusted earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $12.2 billion, beating analysts' estimates of 49 cents a share on revenue of $12.18 billion.

Shares of Cisco surged 12% Thursday morning on the results.

Cisco forecast current-quarter earnings per share of 50 to 52 cents excluding items, in line with expectations. The company expects revenue to grow 4% to 7% from the same quarter a year ago.

CEO John Chambers said, "We are managing the business to account for a continued slow steady recovery on a global basis."

Google Wallet is integrating with Gmail to allow users to send money through emails.

Gmail users can now attach a payment to an email, much as they would attach a document, but they must be signed up for Google Wallet in order to do so. Users can send money via debit or credit cards or directly from a bank account. If a user links a bank account to Google Wallet, transactions are free. Using a debit or credit card will add a 2.9% transaction fee.